Wednesday Worry Day - Cindy Sproles

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

I know fear.

Believe me, I know fear. The first time I met fear, I was with my mom at a movie matinee in 1964. On the screen, a door closed and the shadowy figure of a man hanging from a rope reflected on the wall. I was horrified. I met fear that afternoon, and to this day, fear continues to stalk me.

It took hold of me when our car careened nose-first onto a set of railroad tracks after being struck head-on by a drunk driver. It needled at me, the day my son was born, his skin blue and his liver failing.

Fear became my bedfellow when my first husband drank himself into a mess, then lashed out at me. And fear drove me to remain silent—to carry the blame and guilt alone. It still stalks me today as I wait for a diagnosis about the lump in my throat.

Fear is stifling, numbing and debilitating. It robs us of our rest, wears away at our bodies and tears apart our relationships.

It’s a hard thing to overcome.

My friend suggested when fear and worry gnaw at me, that I choose a day of the week designated specifically for worry. “Take Wednesday since it begins with a ‘w’ and make it Worry Day,” he said.

“And how exactly do I pull off a Worry Day?”

“All the other days of the week, you jot your worries on a sheet of paper and poke them in a box. You can only open the box on Wednesday. That’s your worry day. Pull out the sheets of paper, read them, pray over them and toss them in the trash. You’ve worried. You’re finished until next week.”

He had a good idea. So, I’ve been doing that—jotting my worries down and putting them in a bowl on my desk. On Wednesday I read, pray and toss.

At 51 I’m still a little slow on certain things. I’ve loved Christ all my life, but it took a Worry Day for me to finally understand the command God gave me. “Do not fear. Do not be dismayed. For I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you…” And He does.

Listen to the command of God. Don’t fear. Trust. For He is with you.

Cindy Sproles, along with Eddie Jones, are co-founders and co-writers of ChristianDevotions.us. She co-writes the popular He Said, She Said devotions with Jones and they co-host the He Said, She Said Radio show.
She is a graduate of the University of Phoenix and her devotions appear weekly in papers across the eastern United States. Cindy is the editor of Christian Devotions and serves as a co-host on Christian Devotions Speak UP with Marianne Jordan. She is a popular speaker for women's retreats and conferences and also travels with Eddie Jones representing Christian Devotions and teaching at writers conferences across the country. She is a featured writer in Spirit & HEART: A Devotional Journey.



Publisher: Lighthouse Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9822065-1-5